Pile borer

ABSTRACT

A manual pile borer includes a manually rotatable shaft the lower end of which is provided with an auger above which is a bulb-making device. The bulb-making device carries a weight and is such that as the shaft is rotated in a given angular sense the device is inoperative and closed but is rendered operative to open the device when the shaft rotates in the opposite sense, so that the bulb performs a spading action in response to manual rotation of the shaft.

United States Patent Chong [451 July 25, 1972 PILE BORER 607,229 7/1898 Dyer ..17s/1s x [72] Inventor: Wilson Chung 54 Norbmok Drive, g 2,000,195 5/1935 Srebel ..175/292 ston Jamaca FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 1 FiledI Sept-8,1970 452.955 11/1927 Germany ..|75/292 [2]] App]. No.: 70,116

Primary Examiner-David H. Brown Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [52] U.S.Cl ..175/220, 175/292 [51] Int. Cl [57] ABSTRACT 8 '1 f h ..17 18, 9 ,320 [5 he do sea" 5/ 220 263 2 2 A manual plle borer includes a manually rotatable shafl the lower end of which is rovided with an au er above which is a l d P 8 [56] References C bulb-making device. The bulb-making device carries a weight NlTE STATES TEN and is such that as the shaft is rotated in a given angular sense the device is inoperative and closed but is rendered operative 693,801 2/1902 Leaverton ..l75/292 to open the device whfin the Shaft rotates in the opposite 1,052,847 2/1913 Repp ..175/292 sense so that the bulb performs a Shading action in response 2,990,896 7/1961 Kandle ..175/292 to manual rotation fth Shaft 3,385,383 5/1968 Sturgeon.. ...l75/292 622,365 4/1899 Hubbell 175/18 5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures g-g: :i I ::1 Z A a M f 4 9 /3 l6 /4 /5 r 5 5 2 l. I u Wm v4 1 l p l 1 12/ 1 I I 26 I: X20

Patented July 25, 1972 3,679,008

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 v Allgmey Patented July 25, 1972 3, 679,008

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 /9 /7 k W if U Q Patentecl' July 25, 1972 3,679,008

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I nvenlor Z/Jzm 111 4 By 9 fl uan 7 Altomey FILE BORER This invention concerns pile borers.

According to the present invention, there is provided a manually operable pile borer including a manually rotatable shaft, an auger provided on one end of the shaft a bulb-making spade device having two ends, one end of the device being mounted on said shaft, and a weight being provided on the other end of the device, the mounting of said device is such that when said shaft is rotated in a given angular sense the device is inoperative and closed but is rendered operative to open the device when said shaft rotates in the opposite angular sense, whereafter the making of a bulb is by a spading action of the device in response to manual rotation of said shaft.

Preferably, said device is pivotally mounted on at least one bracket secured to said shaft, there being stop means on the or a said bracket to prevent rotation of said device relative to the shaft when the shaft is rotated in said given angular sense.

The shaft may be provided with means permitting the mounting of said device substantially anywhere along its length.

Said shaft preferably has a pair of oppositely extending manually operable handles attached thereto.

The said shaft may be mounted in and extended through a turntable which in turn is mounted on, and for rotation relative to, a stand.

The invention will be described, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of a pile borer of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a partial view of the pile borer of FIG. 1, shown on an enlarged scale and with parts in section,

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the bulb-making device forming part of the pile borer of FIG. 1, but shown on an enlarged scale,

FIG. 4 is a sectional plan view of the bulb-making device forming part of the pile borer of the present invention,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but representing a modification,

FIG. 6 is a plan view in the direction of the arrow A of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of an auger for use with the present invention, and

FIG. 8 shows the application of the ing deep pile bores.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a pile borer 10 in accordance with the present invention, which comprises a stand 11 shown erected on the ground 12 into which it is desired to bore a pile. The stand 11 preferably comprises four legs 13 mounted on respective bases l4secured in the ground 12 by means of stakes shown diagrammatically at 15. The legs are connected together by respective braces 16. At the top of the legs 13 is provided a stand top 17 on which is mounted a turntable 18, preferably of brass. FIGS. 2 and 5 show respectively two different types of turntable 18 and 18 of varying depth but of otherwise substantially identical construction.

Mounted for rotation in the turntable 18 is a bore shaft 19, in this preferred example of square cross-section. One end of the shaft 19 is provided with an interchangeable auger 20 shown in greater detail in FIG. 7 and with a bulb-making device 21 described in more detail below.

As shown in FIG. 6, these handles are connected to a central plate 40 having a square aperture 41 therein for fitting over the shaft 19. There is a clearance 42 between the shaft 19 and the central plate 40, and for the sake of clarity this aperture has been exaggerated in FIG. 6. It will be appreciated that as the handles 23 are rotated, this causes rotation of the shaft 19. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the handles are rotated manually, although they could be rotated by a powered device. When the handles 23 are disposed in a horizontal plane they slide free of the shaft 19 at all times. The shaft 19 is provided with a plurality of equally spaced boltreceiving apertures 25 to enable the bulbmaking device 21 to be attached to the shaft 19 at substantially anywhere along its length.

present invention to bor- In FIG. I dotted lines 26 indicate the shape of the pile bore that has been bored by the pile borer of the present invention. In operation, two operators rotate the handles 23 in a clockwise direction, as viewed, (i.e. in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 6), one exerting a downward pressure on the free end of one of the handles while the other exerts an upward pressure on the free end of the other of the handles. Thus the plane of the handles 23 is inclined to the horizontal and the shaft 19 is jammed in the aperture 41 allowing a downward pressure to be transmitted to the auger 20. It will therefore be understood that rotation of the handles 23 will cause the auger 20 to bore a hole in the ground 12.

In order to remove the spoil or earth from the hole bored, a bolt or pin is inserted in one of the apertures 25 located above the handles, and by lifting up, the spoil is removed. In FIG. 1, the dotted line position for the handles 23 shows the start of the boring operation, whereas the full line position shows the handles 23 in the position to lift out the spoil.

Refem'ng now to FIGS. 3 and 4, thebulb-making device 21 which may be adjustable to be radially extensible, is shown in more detail. As can be seen, a square tube 28 is fitted over theshaft 19 and brackets 29 are welded to this tube. Each bracket 29 has an upstanding flange 31 and a bolt 30 passes through this flange, the tube 28 and the shaft 19 to secure these parts together. A substantially vertical bolt 33 is secured to the flange 31 adjacent one transverse end thereof, and a stop member 34 is located at its other end. Rotatably mounted on the bolt 33 is a spade member 35 adjacent the free end of which is located a weight 36 welded to the spade member 35.

It will be understood from FIG. 4 that when the handles 23 are rotated in a clockwise direction, the centrifugal forces cause the spade member 35 to be forced against the stop 34 and the bulb-making device 21 will therefore remain inoperative. When, however, the handles 23are rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the centrifugal forces will open the spade member 35 to rotate clockwise, as viewed, to assume the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4, which is the operative or bulb-making position. It willbe understood, however, that the enlargement or bulb-making is effected purely by the spading action of the member 35, that is to say, the action of the device 21 is a series of short thrusts into the wall 26 to cause collapsing of the wall area under impact until the shaft and the spade member 35, fully open, can make a complete unobstructed revolution. At this stage the spade member 35 makes an underreaming action by simultaneously lifting and revolving the shaft. Since the shaft is rotated by, a relatively weak manual force, the weight 36 is necessary to impart a sufficient momentum to the spade member 35.

Centrifugal forces are not, therefore, utilized in the actual scraping or bulb-making. The forces are transferred through the levers or handles 23; by pressing down on the free end of one handle 23 and pulling up on the fee end of the other handle and rotating simultaneously, a pressure is exerted on the auger head which cuts into the earth. In contrast to known manually operated pile borers, the plane of applying pressure by the operators does not change substantially because the handles 23 can slide free and be lifted back up for the start of another cut.

Referring to FIG. 7, the auger 20 is seen to comprise a discshaped member 45, preferably of iron, provided with an internal screw-thread 46 to allow it to be screwed onto the lower end of the shaft 19. The disc is provided with a radially extending upwardly inclined gate 47 and a radially extending downwardly inclined cutter 48 opposite the gate. As the auger 20 is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed from above, the cutter 48 cuts into the earth which passes through a space 49 between the gate 47 and the cutter 48 as indicated by the arrow C and is collected on the upper surface of the member 45. It will be appreciated that any type of auger may be used with the present invention, the one discussed above being merely exemplary.

In FIG. 8 there is disclosed the application of the pile borer according to the present invention to boring deep pile bores. A derrick 50 is provided which is placed with its apex over the pile borer l and the shaft 19 is supported by a rope 51 passing over a pulley 52 at the apex of the derrick. Thus, it will be appreciated that it is possible to have the shaft 19 as long as required to drill the pile bore since it is supported at all times in a vertical disposition.

What is claimed is:

l. A manually operable pile borer including a manually rotatable shaft, an auger provided on one end of the shaft which is operative when the shaft is rotated in a given sense, a bulb-making spade device having two ends, one end of the device being mounted on said shaft, and a weight being provided on the other end of the device, the mounting of said device is such that when said shaft is rotated in the angular sense in which the auger is operative, the device is inoperative and closed but is rendered operative to open the device when said shaft rotates in the opposite angular sense, whereafter the making of a bulb is by a spading action of the device in response to manual rotation of said shaft.

2. A pile borer as claimed in claim I wherein said device is pivotally mounted on at least one bracket secured to said shaft, there being stop means on the at least one said bracket to prevent rotation of said device relative to the shaft when the shaft is rotated in said given angular sense.

3. A pile borer as claimed in claim 1 wherein the shaft is provided with means permitting the mounting of said device substantially anywhere along its length.

4. A pile borer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shaft has a pair of oppositely extending manually operable handles attached thereto.

5. A pile borer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shaft is mounted in and extends through a turntable which in turn is mounted on, and for rotation relative to, a stand. 

1. A manually operable pile borer including a manually rotatable shaft, an auger provided on one end of the shaft which is operative when the shaft is rotated in a given sense, a bulbmaking spade device having two ends, one end of the device being mounted on said shaft, and a weight being provided on the other end of the device, the mounting of said device is such that when said shaft is rotated in the angular sense in which the auger is operative, the device is inoperative and closed but is rendered operative to open the device when said shaft rotates in the opposite angular sense, whereafter the making of a bulb is by a spading action of the device in response to manual rotation of said shaft.
 2. A pile borer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said device is pivotally mounted on at least one bracket secured to said shaft, there being stop means on the at least one said bracket to prevent rotation of said device relative to the shaft when the shaft is rotated in said given angular sense.
 3. A pile borer as claimed in claim 1 wherein the shaft is provided with means permitting the mounting of said device substantially anywhere along its length.
 4. A pile borer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shaft has a pair of oppositely extending manually operable handles attached thereto.
 5. A pile borer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shaft is mounted in and extends through a turntable which in turn is mounted on, and for rotation relative to, a stand. 